During move-in weekend at Queen’s University, a bedsheet was hung outside of a student’s house with the words ‘Daughter Drop Off’ painted on it, sparking outrage according to Global News. Approximately 20 protestors later took to the street outside of the house to leave messages for those who hung the sign.
The sheet has since been removed after people called campus security and Kingston police, according to the Huffington Post. Later, a statement was issued by the president of the university.
“Queen’s is committed to fostering a safe learning and living environment,” said Queen’s University president, Daniel Woolf.
Susan Lord, a Queen’s film and media professor, told the Kingston Heritage that this is a recurring event. “I’ve been working at Queen’s since 1996 and we’ve seen repeatedly every year signs of this nature or worse,” she said.
However, while actions are being taken towards those who violated the university’s code of conduct, many are still left with the negative impacts the sign left behind.
Natasha Kornak, a third-year life sciences student at Queen’s, said in a Twitter message that the photo was cringeworthy and made her angry.
“My sister is a [freshman] this year. It made me scared for her safety,” Kornak said. “She has yet to fully grasp the prevalence of sexual violence on campus . . . I do a lot of advocacy work in this field.”
Victoria Preston, a first-year kinesiology student at Queen’s, said in a Facebook message that she saw the sign during move-in weekend while with a group of friends.
“I remember just feeling upset . . . I knew that university can have a bit of rape culture and a sexist atmosphere before this but that was the first time I experienced it first hand,” Preston said.
“I never thought I’d need walk-home or any of the programs like that but ever since that night, I’ve been really scared to walk home at night.”
In the university’s statement, Woolf said it is not just about ignoring the problem, but preventing it. He said it is up to students to be aware of how they behave, keeping in mind that it reflects on Queen’s University.
“Our behaviours must reflect and protect all that we are rightly proud of about our Queen’s community,” Woolf said.
Lindsay Hill, a fall orientation leader and third-year psychology student at Queen’s, said signs like the one hung during move-in weekend do not impress her or make her laugh, but she’s “become desensitized to it . . . it didn’t trigger any specific thoughts.”
“I didn’t see that one specifically but I did see others. It’s always been a thing. They were there when I was in frosh and when my parents dropped me off,” Hill said.
“I know it’s not great but the first thing I told my frosh was ‘you’re going to see these things, try not to pay attention to them. Just don’t look at them.’”
